Knitting Boondoggle - Spa, Knit, and Spin

I thought Friday's storm would have to be the last, but it is snowing hard again this morning and school is canceled on what was supposed to be the first day back after February vacation. It reminds me of the signs on the lift posts at Sugarloaf that says something like "the snowiest months are February and March!"

The Knitting Boondoggle went off without a hitch on Saturday. Saturday morning was spent with Amy Herzog in her "Fit to Flatter" class. I've got a much better idea of my measurements and how to use them in selecting patterns, but have to admit that I'm still fuzzy on what would really look good on me. The one thing I did get is that more fitted items, with waist shaping, and shorter generally look better on me. Probably the most striking moment for me (in a time period when it seemed everyone around me was having epiphany after epiphany) was when I put on my favorite cardigan sweater and Amy pulled in a bit of the fabric on the back and it suddenly looked fabulous! I'm definitely a convert to fitted sweaters and she gave us some great tips on how to do it.

That was followed by a fairly quick visit to the vendor section at Spa, Knit, and Spin where my head started to spin. I had every intention of buying yarn from Woolen Rabbit, but didn't have the pattern I wanted with me (next year I intend to have an iPad to tote with me to things like this), so didn't know how much or what weight. I then got distracted by a discount bin at Dirty Water Dyeworks and bought beautiful deep purple/berry/blue BFL (Blue Faced Leicester wool) fingering weight for a sweater and another skein of cranberry colored sock weight. I may design a simple cardigan from this, but first I'm going to swatch to see if it would work for a Sprössling cardigan. I spent some time on Sunday winding them into balls:


I did get to try out a couple of spindles at Spunky's stall. I'm particularly interested in turkish spindles and Spunky had some from the woodworker whose site I was looking at. She started me out on one of the small ones, but I found them too fiddly. I tried the original, larger one, and really liked it. I want to use one of my gift cards to buy it, but after registering it, am waiting for the card to arrive. I can make a detour to Spunky's shop in Lisbon on my way to my parents' house one of these weekends. I also wanted some silk hankies for knitting mittens, but she had only a few left by Saturday afternoon and the colors weren't really appealing to me. They were appealing to someone, however, because when we returned to cruise through the vendor area one more time after lunch, they were gone!

These are my Knitting Boondoggle friends - Sue, Amy Herzog (Fit to Flatter teacher/writer/blogger), me, and Cathie. Sue is holding her purchases from Woolen Rabbit. I'm holding a notebook in which to note color names.

When I got home, all I wanted to do was sit and knit, so got some work done on the wedding shawl. I finished my Fiddlehead Mittens in the car, and made slight progress on a pair of lace knee socks I've been working on FOREVER. I think I've realized it is the needles that are slowing me down -- they are beautiful nickel steel ones from Knit Picks, but I just would rather be knitting on wood or bamboo. I think if I switch out the needles, I'd be able to finish them.

Then, I climbed into bed with all of the books and magazines I'd gone through in preparation for the class and re-thought my selections. More on that tomorrow.